Commemorations 25th anniversary of Falcone’s murder

The Italian President Sergio Mattarella on Monday remembered that anti-Mafia magistrate Giovanni Falcone was always “a stickler for the solidity of evidence” as he showed in the so-called maxi-trial that convicted dozens of Mafia bosses and earned him the death sentence issued by Mafia boss Riina. The murder was carried out on May 25, 1992 near the town of Capaci, in Sicily, with the explosion of a half-ton bomb that had been placed in a culvert under the motorway.

Giovanni Falcone, his wife Francesca Morvillo and police officers Rocco Dicillo, Antonio Montinaro and Vito Schifani were killed in the blast that was so powerful to be registered on local earthquake monitors.

On Wednesday there will be commemorative marches through the Sicilian capital, dedicated programs on Italian State TV and Mattarella will lead a commemoration of Falcone by addressing 1,000 students from over all Italy in the Ucciardone prison bunker hall with Senate Speaker Pietro Grasso, the former national anti-Mafia prosecutor, Interior Minister Marco Minniti and Education Minister Valeria Fedeli.
Falcone was a firm believer in the independence of the judiciary and his motto was “follow the money”. This is the investigative legacy that is still honored by the Federal Bureau of Investiation 25 years after his death.

The head of legal affairs for the FBI in Italy, Kieran L. Ramsey, said to ‘Il Sole 24 Ore-ItalyEurope24’ that Falcone’s method is still relevant today: “The F.B.I. has used the Falcone method, combining it with a variety of investigative methods and tools to effectively combat all types of transnational organized crime groups. ‘Following the money’ by using powerful laws against money laundering and confiscation of assets allows the FBI to stop organized crime from having the ability to conduct and profit from illegal activities.”